B 121 
H3 
opy 1 



. lants In Paper Bands 




READY-TO-PLANT 



BY 



A. W. 4^ARRIS 




PLACING THE BANDS 



THE 

HISTORY AND METHOD 

OF 

GROWING PLANTS 

IN 

PAPER BANDS 
AND POTS 





BY 

W. HARRIS 

SLEEPY EYE, MINN. 
PRICE 35 CENTS. 



SB \z 
.H3 



^mm^ 




TO MY GOOD FRIENDS OV SLEEPY EYE, WHO 
HAVE HELPED ME IN MANY WAYS. I DEDI- 
CATE THIS lu'lle book. 



aM^/'fcvi;^^ 



COPYRIGHT 1922 BY A. W. HARRIS 

. N0U17'22 



i 



C1A691147 



\ 



^ 



PART ONE 

fE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
<5 PAPER PLANT BANDS 

Paper Plant Bands and Pots are no longer an experiment. A 
few years ago I met a group of Market Gardeners at a horticultural 
convention. They were telling of using paper bands made up by 
kand for more than 20 years back. They were well satisfied with 
the results attained, but said that where a great number had to be 
used the extra labor involved in preparing the bands was more than 
the benefits derived. 

In the last few years there have been several makes of paper 
bands and pots placed on the market. Some of these take more time 
to make up than others and the greatest saving is made with the 
nearest Ready-to-Use varieties. This is especially so where large 
quantities are used. 

A pasted type has been placed on the market, but it will be 
found that the ends only hold together until the plants are removed 
from the flats when great care must be exercised or the roots will 
be damaged. Especially is this so if the plants are handled several 
times from sale to setting-out. 

The Harris Ready-to-Use Locked Plant Bard 

In February, 1915, the agricultural teacher of our city came to 
me to get several hundred small pots. I was short myself at that 
time. I showed him an ad of Paper Dirt Bands then running in one 
of the leading trade magazines. I had been interested, but for one 
reason or another had put off trying these bands out. He seemed to 
think they were just what he wanted, so we ordered 10,000 of the 
two-inch size. I will never forget how disappointed we were when 
they arrived. The advertisement showed a lot of square bands 
ready-to-use. What we got were only plain strips of paper with 
directions for folding them and making them up. March is the heavy 
transplanting month up here, and on account of the large amount 
of work I had to do, I only made up a few hundred of these bands. 
They were hard to place in the flats, the ends being loose they 
would not stay in shape, so that I became disgusted and threw the 
rest of the lot out in the stove room. 

The plants I had in the bands did fine. When selling time 
came I charged 10 to 15 cents a dozen more for these plants. They 
were woFth it, but I had to talk a lot to get people to take them in 
preference to the loose plants. 

• ? (3)-, : 



From the success I had with these few plants I decided to use 
the rest of the bands, so in the winter of 1915. I hired boys to take 
these bands home with them and make them up, pasting the ends and 
in the spring of 1916 I used these. The pasted ends held them in 
place in the flats fine. When transplanting time came the people 
who had bought from me the year before came back with their 
neighbors asking for more plants in bands, saying that they had 
earlier tomatoes and cabbage than they had ever had before. The only 
trouble was that in handling, a lot of the bands would come loose 
from the plants. The pasted end, of course, only held them together 
temporarily. 

In the winter of 1916, I bought a ream of cardboard from my 
wholesale paper house and had them cut it up for me at a small 
■cost. The spring of 1917 was my third season with plants in bands. 
My plants were so well advertised that people came from miles 
around to get them and were willing to pay a considerable higher 
price for them than for the loose plants. 

I was satisfied that Paper Plant Bands were a success, if they 
■could be made ready-to-use, with locked ends. I studied out a number 

.--^'i, of methods of locking the 

\ bands, looking for something 

that could be made by a ma- 

** chine and at last made up 

by hand, a locked band like 

the one we are now making. 

During the summer I studied 

, J ^^^MPP^jMB^ ^^^ ^ machine which would 

; J ^^^^^BBf^^^ ^fflpp*^ do this work, planning the 

yl ^sKKt^^^mr^ machine in my mind. It was 

^ IMMBMI^hB^ necessary that the machine 

would take a roll of paper, 
Ready to use. ^^^^^ ^^e band at the cor- 

ners, cut the tongues and 
slots, lock the ends, sever the band from the continuous strip, fold 
the band and pack it in a carton. This I had all planned out before 
making a piece, and it was not until December, of 1917, that I 
started making the machine. 

I probably would not have started at that time if I had 
not seen an ad for a new locked band. My band seemed to be 
so much better that I started making a machine. From old sew- 
ing machines, telephone generator wheels and other junk parts, I 
developed my model and by April 1918, I was making bands. In May 
I sent this machine to Washington for application for patent. In 
the fall of 1918 I got my model back and. by demonstrating the ma- 
chine and the advantages of the bands, got local capital enough inter- 
ested to form a company. We started at once to rebuild the model add- 
ing several features and correcting some of the faults. In August, of 

(4) 




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l. 



^Sl**- 




1918, I went to Minneapolis to a machine designer. Several months 
were spent there drafting, and in January, of 1919, we hired our own 
draftsman and returned to Sleepy Eye. We had our own shop and 
machinist, and completed our first designed machine July, of 1919. 

Our latest model machine is really several separate machines 
in one, so designed that each performs its work in continuous 
sequence. The paper is printed, the corners scored and the tongues 
and slots of the lock cut. The paper is fed onto a square former 
upon which the ends are locked and the band severed from the strip 
of paper. From the former it is ejected into the folder. It drops 

from the fold- 
to the rever- 
ser where- 
eve»ry other 
band is re- 
versed, thus 
saving s e v - 
inches in the 
length of the 
package, o n 
account of 
there beiner 
three thick- 
Ready to sell. nesses of 
paper at one end of the band and two on the other. From the rever- 
ser it drops to the packer and 2.50 are counted out by the machine 
and placed in the carton. The machine then automatically stops long 
enough for one to remove the full carton and put an empty one in 
place, whereupon the machine resumes operation. If the paper breaks 
or a band misses the machines automatically stop and warn the 
operator that something is wrong. 

These machines are quite complicated and cost several thousand 
dollars each to make, but they are so automatic in operation that one 
operator can handle several, and will turn out three to four thousand 
bands an hour from each machine. 

We found that it was impractical to design this machine so that 
any size band could be made on the machine. For this reason it cost 
us considerable to get started and even now we have only four size 
of bands to offer. We expect to add two more sizes as soon as possi- 
ble and more if the trade demands them. We are able to make these 
bands in any depth from two inches to four inches, but on account 
of not wishing to carry too many depths in stock we have picked a 
depth for each most suitable to the size. 

During our first two years' sales, we found that there were a 
great many growers who wanted a pot or band with a bottom. Al- 
though these machines were not designed for this purpose, it was 

(5) 



" -^ found that by a slifi'ht 

alteration a longtitudinal 
score could be eiven the 
paper, and knives added 
to cut the corners to this 
score, whereupon the 
simplest square folding 
pot yet on the market 

V was produced and the de- 

mand for these has been 
The Band with the folding bottom. considerable. Our Ready- 

to-Use Bands and Pots are being shipped to every state in the Union 

and to Canada. 

The greatest difficulty has been the high fieight and express 
rates. Eventually we expect to have several branches in different 
parts of the country and manufacture closer to the market. Starting 
as we did during the high prices of the war and the hard times fol- 
lowing, we are well satisfied with the results of our venture, and 
know that eventually our Ready-to-Use Bands and Pots will be used 
"by every up-to-date florist and market gardener in the country. 

PART TWO 
ADVANTAGES OF THE BANDS 

SPACE SAVED— The space in greenhouses, hot-beds and cold 
frames is necessarily limited, and the cost of production will be 
largely a matter of how fully that space is utilized, therefore, exactly 
the required room should be given to each plant, no more, no less. 
It is impossible to get the required spacing by methods of growing 
in flats and boxes without partitions. Even though the surface 
spacing may be correct, the roots c.^ part of the plants are sure to 
encroach upon the territory of the others in which case both are 
sure to suffer. The crowding of root space by each other has the 
same effect as their being crowded by weeds, and when transplanting 
it is impossible to separate the tangled roots without stripping off 
the hair-like feeding rootlets. This full utilization of space may be 
accomplished only by growing in square bands or pots and not in 
round or cone-shaped ones. A 2^4 -inch clay pot contains 7.57 cubic 
inches; a square band 1%x1%x2Mj inches deep contains 7.65 cubic 
inches; a two-inch clay pot contains 3.16 cubic inches. When placed 
in rows on a bench so that the pots on one row fit into the spaces be- 
tween the pots of another row a 2 ^/^ -inch pot takes up 6.48 square 
inches; a two-inch pot takes up 4.80 square inches, while a 1%-inch 
band takes up only 3.06 square inches. Now, in cubic contents the 
1%-inch band has more than twice as much room as the two-inch pot 
and slightly more room than a 2 1/^ -inch pot, while it takes up less 
than three-fourths of the space occupied by a two-inch pot and less 
than one-half the space occupied by a 2^/^ -inch pot. 

(6) 



Experience has shown that 2^/^ and 3 inches is the best depth 
ifor plant bands, as with this depth there is plenty of nourishment for 
i:he plants as long as it is proper for them to remain in the flats. If 
the plants are left too long in the bands the roots will have spread 
at the bottom which will cause a set-back when they are transplanted. 

LABOR SxWED — The labor involved in growing plants con- 
sists mainly in planting, transplanting, watering and moving from one 
place to another. In the original planting it makes little difference 
when it comes to labor, where it is done, but it makes a whole lot of 
difference when it comes to transplanting whether we transfer the 
plant bodily together with its proper quota of earth nicely inclosed in 
a dirt band, or whether we dig them out of a box of dirt, when great 
care must be exercised to prevent injury to the plant. In event the 
plant is injured, still more labor is incurred in replanting it. 

TIME SAVED — In moving from place to place where bands are 
used, a flat containing one hundred or more may be picked up and 
carried to the new place. For those who ship young plants, the 
paper bands are indispensable, as they handle with less labor and 
without danger of injury to the plants. All that is required is to 
crate the flats and they are sure to arrive at their destination in good 
shape. The cost of plant bands as compared with earthen pots is 
small and besides there is no breakage. 

THE MAIN ADVANTAGE— EARLIER CROPS-Larger and 
and more mature plants are secured by starling them early. The 
transplanting set-back which necessarily occurs every time a plant is 
disturbed, can be taken care of under the glass where it can be 
more readily controlled. Only when grown in bands or pots, are large 
plants transplanted without a set-back. 

It has been found by actual experience that with plants grown, 
part of them in clay pots and part in paper bands and both receiving 
the same care, those grown in the dirt bands about double the growth 
of those in the pots in the same length of time. Plants grown by 
this method are not injured in transplanting as the root system is 
not disturbed. They do not wilt, but will continue their growth and 
arrive at maturity from two to three weeks earlier than when trans- 
planted from a flat in the old way. This is especially true in trying 
to transplant when the ground is in a very dry condition as it is in 
the South when planting the fall crop. By using plants in bands one 
can plant during the dryest weather. 

Not only is the plant band method of growing adaptable to such 
plants as are ordinarily started under glass and later transplanted 
tc tlie open field, but plants which are not ordinarily started in that 
way may have the advantage of an early start. Among this latter 
class of plants we may mention sweet peas, squash, cucumbers, 
melons, sweet corn, beans, etc. 

TIME SAVED WATERING— -Plants growing in paper bands 
will require only half the watering of those grown in round or cone- 
shaped pots. This is because the spaces between the pots gives a 
greater evaporation surface while with the square bands the only 
evaporation that takes place is from the surface of the earth, which 
is Nature's way. 

(7) 



Method of Growing Plants in Paper Bands 

PREPARATION OF FLATS— If flats are used be sure there is / 
plenty of drainajie. There should be several cracks in the bottom; / 
3-16 or 1/4 of an inch wide. Even fine soil, after once v^atered and. 
settled, will not go through such a crack to any gieat amount. If 
there are not enough cracks, bore one-half inch holes in the bottom, 
boards, and plenty of them. If benches are used treat them the same 
way. When making new flats make one side detachable by nailing- 
angle pieces of heavy galvanized sheet ii'on to each of the ends. This. 
will be of advantage in observing the amount of moisture in the soiU 
and in removing the plants when they are to be set out. The flats 




A handy style of Flat. 

should be at least one-half inch deeper than the bands, in order that 
when filling with soil there will be enough to fill the bands after the 
soil has beeen settled by planting and watering; and besides, unless 
there is a slight retaining wall around the top of each flat the water 
is apt to run off instead of soaking the soil thoroughly. In making 
the flats be sure to use Pecky Cypress, which can be secured all ready 
cut to order from any greenhouse supply house. It will repay the 
extra cost in the length of time it will last. 

SOIL — Avoid a heavy soil, as it tends to retain too much mois- 
ture. If your soil is at all heavy add sand and humus. For seedlings 
make it considerable lighter than you would for large plants. A small 
quantity of lime will also help to keep it sweet. Fill the flat level 
with the top. 

STARTING THE PLANTS— Start your seed in flats as ordi- 
narily. When they are large enough to transplant handle them by 
replanting the seedlings about one inch apart, in ordinary flats of 
soil. When they have grown so as to cause their tops to cover the 
flat, again transplant, giving them more top room, at the same time 
grading the plants so that plants of a size will be together. This 
Hiay be done several times. Each time they will be retarded in top 
growth until the root system has recovered from the shock, but this 
will cause the roots to be compact and at no time will there be a 
severe set-back, such as results when a plant is grown in one place 

(8) 



for any length of time and then transplanted, in which case the plants 
with the roots grown long, with the feeding rootlets scattered the- 
whole length of the main root system will receive a severe set-back 
when part of the system is lost in handling. This is why small plants^ 
do not receive the set-back in transplanting which large plants do and 
why continued transplanting helps to raise large plants which can be 
transplanted without a set-back. 

SELECTING THE RIGHT BANDS— We are sure that after 
trying out all other makes you will eventually come to our bands, 
because there are no other Ready-to-Use Bands made. Remember 
that where paste is used to fasten the ends it will only last until the 
first watering and that the nearer a band is to being Ready-to-Use 
the gieater saving there will be in labor. The so called locked bands 
put out by several other firms come to you as strips of paper which 
have to be made up before use and you will find that it will take you 
over three hours per 1,000 to put them together. 

There are a number of growers who prefer paper pots and 
others who prefer bands, and it really is in most cases only a matter 
of preference. On account of their being more paper used "in making 
the pots they cost more. The bottoms help to retain the soil when 
handling, and this is especially so when the plants are handled several 
times. If the plants are taken direct to the field from the flat or 
bench a bottom only adds to the cost. Select a band or pot in size 
conforming to the amount of top growth the plant, will have when 
it is ready to set out. Corn will take a smaller band than cucumbers, 
but do not try to get any of these kind of plants too large, as if you 
do the roots will have spread on the bottom and the plants will suffer 
a set-back if not die when moved. 

PLANTING — After placing the bands in the flats (see cut inside 
front cover) and filling with dirt, with a dibble make holes large 
enough in which to insert the roots of the seeJlings, (see inside back 
cover) in the approximate center of each band. Select plants of a 
size. The grading of plants is very necessary, as small ones in be- 
tween larger ones are apt to die and if they do not, when plants are 
ready for the market, either these will have to be thrown awav or 
given to the customei-s. If there is a large bunch of roots push them 
down with the point of the dibble and press the plants firmly into the 
soil with the thumbs and fore fingers of each hand. It is well to have 
some loose soil on top of the flat and after planting a row across fill up 
the bands where the soil has been compressed around each plant. 
After planting rap the flat sharply to even ofl' the soil and sprinkle 
over the top enough fine soil to fill up nearly to the edge of the flat. 

With such plants as cucumbers, melons, squash, corn, sweet peas, 
etc., two or three seeds should be sown direct in the bands and all 
but one plant pulled out when the strongest can be selected to remain. 
Plants such as tomatoes, when wanted large, should be transplanted 
several times before placing them in the bands and this should not 
be done, until three or four weeks before time for planting out. 

(9) 



WATERING — When first planted the seedlings should be soaked 
good and then not watered again until on the dry side and from 
then on it rests with the grower whether the plants will be a success 
or a failure. There is no work connected with growing plants under 
glass more difficult to give directions for, but there is one main rule 
to follow: NEVER WATER A PLANT UNTIL IT NEEDS IT. A 
plant needs water or it does not. It is never a question of quantity. 
It is better to hold your plants on the dry side than keep them con- 
stantly wet and one only can tell when to water by the condition of 
the soil itself. 



AVHEN READY TO SET OUT— To remove plants from the flat, 
grasp the flat by the sides and tilt it at an angle of about 80 degrees, 
jar one end against the ground until the plants squeeze together and 
an inch or so of space is 
gained at the upper end. Re- 
peat the operation with one 
side against the ground. The 
plants will now have loosen- 
ed up so that they can be 
easily removed with a putty 
knife or a small trowel. With 
flats made with a detachable 
side the trowel may be readi- 
ly inserted under the bands, 
but it is well anyway to jar 
the flats as above, as it 
loosens up the bands so that 
they separate more readily. 
In most cases it is better not 
to remove the bands from 
the plants when transplant- 
ing, for in doing so more or 
less injury is apt to occur to 
the roots. Set deep enough 
to entirely cover the band. 
Large plants should be set 
even deeper. Fill the hole No hunting for tin cans, 

around the plant with water and then fill it with earth, leaving dry 
earth on top. It is not necessary to shade in the hottest weather. 




Set your plants out as early as possible after the ground is warm, 
as the earlier plants are in the field, the earlier will they mature, un- 
less checked by weather conditions. I only found this out after 
several years. I thought that if I grew my plants large and kept 
them from being stunted they would mature as early as those set out 
earlier in the field; but others who got plants from me and planted 
them before I did got earlier crops. Now, I set my plants out just 
as early as possible and in case of frost, cover them with cone- 
shaped tar paper covers. Of course, I sometimes loose part of them 
but as I have plenty of plants on hand I can easily replant. 

(10) 



Faults 

The one fault of the band method of growing is a tendency to 
over-water, especially is this so during cloudy weather. The dirt on 
top will appear dry and naturally one will water these with the rest 
of the bench, but if the dirt deeper down is examined it will be found 
still quite moist. As an actual fact, plants in bands do better if 
neglected somewhat, while plants in small pots if neglected will 
soon be spoiled. One season I had several flats of smilax in bands 
and several hundred in two-inch pots on a high shelf, where they 
were seldom watered. The plants in the bands made several times 
the growth of the ones in the pots. 

The amount of moisture removed from the soil depends upon 
two things: First — Direct evaporation from the soil itself. Second — 
That which takes place through the leaves. The greater the number 
of plants occupying the same area, or rather the greater amount of 
leaf area covering the given soil area, the greater will be the amount 
of moisture absorbed from the soil. In pots, evaporation takes plac« 
not only from the top but through the pot itself, and the leaf area 
as compared to the amount of soil in the pot is large, causing zhe pot 
plants to use an excessive amount of water in hot weather. This 
means repeated watering, while in cloudy weather, only a normal 
amount is required. In bands, in sunny weather, the evaporation will 
be normal as, outside of the amount of moisture used by the leaves 
themselves, there is very little evaporation. In cloudy weather there 
will be hardly any evaporation and with plants just set out even in 
sunny weather little evaporation from the leaveq takes place, as un- 
til the roots get accustomed to their new places and the new roots 
have grown to take the place of the ones torn off, the only evapora- 
tion will be from the soil. 

When seedlings are transplanted to either benches or flats they 
are spaced about one inch apart. There are several times as many 
occupying the same area as when planted in bands, except the one- 
inch size, which can only be used for plants with little top growth 
or ones which are to be held only a short while before planting out, 
and the evaporation through the leaves removes several times the 
amount of moisture removed by the plants in bands under the same 
conditions. Now, the point is, as every grower knows, when the 
soil is repeatedly watered without a chance to dry out it becomes 
sour and hardly any plant, especially small seedlings, will thrive in 
sour soil. Too little water shows up very quickly by the plants wilt- 
ing and if the plants are watered again at once no harm will result, 
but it takes a couple of weeks of over-watering to show up in the 
plants and several weeks of careful watering to restore them to 
health, if possible to do so at all. A great many experienced grow- 
ers have made this mistake, and when their plants turned yellow and 
became stunted, blamed the bands for it. They were used to grow- 
ing plants in pots or loose soil. 

An Eastern manufacturer of bands claims that most kinds of 
paper and all kinds of cardboards are poisonous to plants. The first 
years we nianufactured bands we were using a chip-board. A num- 

(11) 



ber of our customers complained of stunted plants. I, myself, had 
some of my plants turn yellow, but a great many others to whom 
we wrote, told us their plants did fine. Cornell University said our 
chip-board bands gave them entire satisfaction. 

From experiments we found that cardboard being thicker tended 
to retain moisture and through some action, bacteria or otherwise, 
under certain conditions of air and weather, caused the soil to become 
sour. These experiments have absolutely proven that there is no 
poisonous substance in cardboard itself. The Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry at Washington has told us that although there might be 
some free chlorine or sulphuric acid left in the paper after being 
manufactured, the quantity would be so small that it could do no 
harm to the most tender roots. 

To O/ercome Sturtad Plants 

This season my pansies were late and in order to save work I 
made the first transplanting direct to two-inch bands. At first I did 
not notice that these plants were not doing well, but after several 
weeks I saw that they were standing still. Upon examining the 
plants I found that there was a growth of mold on the inside of the 
paper and that the tiny roots, on coming in contact with this, turned 
brown. The plants were so small that they could not draw water 
fast enough to keep the soil sweet. Later in the season I experiment- 
ed with spraying the bands in the flats, before planting, with several 
different copper fungicides and found that I was not troubled with 
the mold on the ones treated. 

HOW LONG WILL THEY LAST?— The lasting qualities of 
paper bands depends a whole lot upon the way the plants are grown in 
them when ordinary paper is used. For instance, plants grown prop- 
erly will take up the water from the soil which is replaced by air 
and under this continuous first wet and then practically dry condi- 
tion of the soil, the paper does not deteriorate very much. I have 
had plants in bands several months which came out of the flats in fine 
condition, yet again, I tried to start cannas in bands one year, and on 
account of the extra moisture necessary to start and grow them, the 
bands did not hold up six weeks. 

PART THREE 

PLANTS THAT I HAVE GROWN 

IN BANDS 

TOMATOES — I start my earliest tomatoes about January 3L 
I do not grow many of these as by setting-out time. May 20, they 
will be large plants in blossom and fruit and will sell at 25c each. The 
seedlings are transplanted several times, grading them each time to 
one size and throwing the weak ones away, until the middle of April 

(12) 



they are placed in four-inch bands. A later sowing made about 
February 20, will take three-inch bands, and March 15 I sow my 
largest crop. These are transplanted once or twice depending on the 
season and then in April are placed in two-inch bands. These sell 
at from 40c to 50c per dozen. March 31, another sowing is made 
and the strong plants planted direct in the 1%-inch bands, which sell 
at 25c to 35c a dozen. A whole lot depends upon the season. Last 
year was very early and a great number of my plants were too large. 
March and April were very warm and sunshiny and the plants grew 
very rapidly under the glass. 



EARLY CABBAGE, CAULIFLOWER AND KOHL RABBI— 

Are started in February for the earliest plants, and by growing them 

cold., held back. Stalky plants are 
produced which are transplanted 
and graded several times and fin- 
ally planted in two-inch bands the 
last of March or the first of April, 
depending upon the season. If 
these plants are grown warm they 
are apt to make heads in the 
bands. The plants should sell at 
from 35c to 50c depending upon 
the market. March 15, I make my 
main sowing of these plants and 
of late cauliflower and kohl rabbi. 
They are transplanted and graded 
once or twice and placed in 1%- 
inch bands in April. These sell at 
from 25c to 35c a dozen, and by 
the flat considerable cheaper. 
Some times a later sowing is 
made, the plants being trans- 
planted direct to the bands. I have 
had some demand for late cabbage 
in bands which are started about 
March 31, and transplanted once to 
Grow all of the above mentioned 




A sturdy plant, 
flats from which they aie 



sold. 



plants as cool as possible, giving them at all times plenty of air and 
your customers will come back next year asking "for more. 



EGG PLANTS AND PEPPERS— Are started in Februaiy and 
are handled the same as tomatoes. They are graded to two sizes which 
are placed in three-inch bands early in April. These plants do not 
make the rapid growth that tomatoes do, but should be grown warm 
and kept as close to the glass as possible. One year I had a number 
of pepper plants, part of which were in bands and part in 2V2-inch pots. 
These were on a shelf close to the glass. The evaporation was rapid 
in late ApriJ and May, and although these plants were the same size 
when planted, the ones in the bands more than doubled the size of the 
ones in pots by March 20. 

(13) 



.^^N. 



^ 



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*^ 



PANSIES — Are started January 1, 
and grown much like cabbage, except 
that they are placed in two-inch bands 
in March. If they get too much heat 
they are apt to string out. They should 
also be pinched back at first. 

»^ MELONS AND CUCUMBERS — Are 

sown several seeds in three-inch and four- 
inch bands or pots ab'out April 15. These 
must be kept warm and as soon as they 
come up, placed where they will get 
plenty of sun. Special care must be 
taken in watering them as the ground 
should not be kept soggy or the plants 
are apt to to damp-off. When the plants 
are from two or three inches high all 

it two or three of the strongest are" 

moved. 

\ SWEET PEAS— Are sown in two-inch 
': bands and handled like cucumbers, ex- 
^ cept that they are started about April 1 

Readv to plant. ^"^^ S'^'^^n colder. 

I. i^^'^f?/^^""'^^^ earliest asters are started about March 1, and 
handled like tomatoes and are placed in two-inch bands in April 
Later plantings from March 15 to April 15 are planted in two-inch or 
1%-inch bands. There are a number of other seedlings such as 
snap dragons and a lot of annuals that can be grown in bands but the 
same general directions will cover their care, if the nature of the 
plant IS kept in mind. 

1 ^-.^j ^^J^^ ^^ remembered that the dates mentioned are for the 
latitude of southern Minnesota. 

PLANTS FROM CUTTING^-Last year I had a number of car- 
nations and chrysanthemum cuttings in bands. 




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The carnation were placed in 1%-inch bands in December,^ 
January and February, and when transplanted to the field in May 
were in better shape and handled better than the ones I had in 2^- 
inch clay pots; besides they did not take half the room that the 2^^- 
inch pot-plants did in the bench. 







How easy to crate tor shipment. 

The chrysanthemums were placed in two-inch bands in 
March, pinched back in April and benched in June. They 
made some of the best plants I have ever had. The carnations 
were in bands several months and the bands were in good condition 
when the plants were set out. The work of transplanting was very 
much faster than that of the pot plants. I also started several hun- 
dred vincas in 1%-inch bands in January and February, planting 
these in the field in May. The bands remained in good condition and 
the plants handled perfectly. One-inch bands would have been large 
enough for the carnations and vincas, but I used 1%-inch as I did 
not have the others. Last season I grew several hundred Mme. 
Salleroi in two-inch bands, placing the cuttings in the bands direct 
from the cutting bench in October. These I carried on a shelf dur- 
ing the winter and on the dry side until spring. They made fine 
plants and handled well when sold in May and June. I also grew 
several hundred Margurietes in the same way. Last year I started 
my cannas in flats and about April 10, I transplanted part of them 
into three-inch bands with bottoms. They did fine and handled well 
in May and ^^-'ne. 

There are a number of other cuttings which I have grown suc- 
cessfully, such as coleus, feverfew, sweet ailyssum, etc. The main 
point to bear in mind is not to have the plants in the bands so long 
that either the top growth smothers part of the plants or the roots 
grow together. Some slow growing plants such as vincas can be 
kept in the bands longer than the fast growing ones, such as coleus 
or daisies. Sometimes if the season is early, and if the plants have 
made tod heavy a top growth, it will be necessary to remove them 
from the flats and space them so as to give them more air circula- 

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tion. This can be done if it is not too long before they will be dis- 
posed of. A week or 10 days or possibly two weeks but not longer. 

There are only a few plants which I have tried in bands which 
did not do better than in clay pots. Geraniums in three-inch and 
four-inch bands did not do well. They could not be grown in flats on 
account of their tops being too large and when the plants were 
spaced so as to give them more room only a few weeks were neces- 
sary for the roots to spread in the cinders and then cause a set-back 
v.'hen moved. Geraniums direct from the cutting bench in two-inch 
bands did well when sold in time. The roots of the Bellis Perennis 
are so penetrating that they grew through the paper and when it came 
time to remove them, the plants had locked together so that it was 
nearly impossible to separate them. 

ONE OF THE BEST FEATURES OF BANDS is their adapta- 
bility to the wholesale growing and shipping of two and two and 
one-half inch pot plants. Twice as many plants can be grown with 
less work than when planted in clay pots; and besides the work of 
preparing for shipment is very small. It is only necessary to nail an 
upright at the corner on each end of the flat with a piece across the 
top and then a top and sides of slats can be readily nailed to these. 
With pot plants there is the work of removing them from the pots, 
wrapping each individual plant and cleating them in the boxes. 

Plants crated do not suffer from lack of air. They are handled 
with more care by the expressmen than when placed in tight boxes 
which do not show what they contain and arrive at their destination 
in much better shape. When received they should be watered and 
shaded for two or three days and then placed in the sun or replanted 
as desired. 

These plants will be found to have less set-back than the ones 
from clay pots. Of course, there is a slightly increased cost of ship- 
ping as bands contain more earth than pots of a given size, but band 
plants can be sold cheaper and this in connection with their better 
shape on arrival will more than off-set the higher shipping cost. 

Another feature of the band is that it can be used as a cut- 
worm guard. After placing the plants in the field, put either a two- 
inch or three-inch band over the plant and bank it up slightly with 
earth to anchor it. 

Now, again, I wish to emphasize the importance of watching the 
watering carefully. It is nearly impossible to over-water 
chrysanthmum cuttings in bands, as their leaf area is so great that 
they will handle all of the moisture the soil will accept, but with the 
weaker seedlngs, especially in cold cloudy weather, examine the soil 
very carefully before watering. 



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Planting 



Mi. 



933 934 6 



